The Anniversary, by Alex Finlay (REVIEW) — Terror That Returns Like Clockwork

It might be hard to believe, but there was life before self-driving cars were an option.

Before AI and the internet gave us split-second access to all manner of information. 

Before cell phones were practically glued to our hands.

So let’s go back to one such “before”—specifically, the early 1990s, for a few minutes. 

Grunge was taking over the music scene, and the number of channels on cable TV was exploding.

And although we knew serial killers existed... for the most part, it was still in a “stuff-that-only-happens-somewhere-else” kind of way.

Thriller master Alex Finlay leads us into that world—a quite ordinary one... until a serial killer starts terrorizing everyone—with his latest, The Anniversary.

 

It could’ve been just another day in a small Nebraska town... except on this one day of the year—May 1, 1992—folks are a little jittery.

You see, terrible things have been happening on the first of May for a while, now.

Young women have gone missing... found alive (but traumatized), or later discovered as bodies that had been discarded like trash.

And each time, the May Day Killer vanishes afterward.

So the high school girls all know to be extra-careful on May 1—of course they do. 

Still, high schoolers don’t always make wise decisions... and on this night, beautiful social butterfly Jules Delaney gets into a fight with her jock boyfriend at a party... and ends up walking home alone.

The May Day Killer had been waiting for just such an opportunity... and he takes it.

That same evening, a boy in her year—Quinn Riley, a nice, quiet boy she likes (but whose home life leaves him totally out of her league)—is arrested when a fight he tries to break up goes too far.

Neither Jules nor Quinn escapes unscathed. 

Jules is freed the next morning—but only after enduring a brutal attack.

As for Quinn, he’s sentenced to spend a year in a juvenile detention center.

A year passes, but things don’t improve by the next May 1.

Jules doesn’t want to keep reliving the worst night of her life, but can’t force it from her mind—wondering over and over why she was let go. 

Quinn, meanwhile, gets released from juvie... but going home means more pain, when he learns that his mother’s death—during his detention—is still an unsolved murder case.

Each of them, separately, decides to leave their small town—and all of the devastating memories it holds—behind.

But over the next decade, as their lives randomly intersect, Jules and Quinn discover their pasts continue to haunt them... and find themselves inexorably drawn back to the one place where answers to all of their questions may be found.

On May 1, the anniversary of all the Bad Stuff.

Only this time, neither will be alone.

 

The Anniversary is a thriller that genuinely delivers, and I found myself reaching for it every time I had a few spare minutes.

I really love how Finlay employs the passage of time—every year, the exact same day.

Doing so doesn’t just work for the story; it acts as a sort of mirror we can imagine holding up to ourselves and our own lives.

Because the fact is, time—and the very act of living—change us... our experiences and attitudes, but also, to an extent, our memories and impressions of the past. 

You can see that here, as the characters go from high schoolers to adults with professional careers. Their journeys—full of pain, heartbreak, regret, guilt, and loss—deliver emotional hits you can feel.

Of course no story works without believable characters, and Finlay ably brings Jules, Quinn, and everyone else they encounter to life. They seem like real people, and their actions, thoughts, and choices hold up.

Another thing I really appreciate is that he creates a very accurate sense of place. If you’ve ever spent any time in small Midwestern towns, you’ll have no trouble picturing everything—and everyone—exactly.

The Anniversary is a twisty tale, with plotlines that seem to effortlessly intersect and then diverge, over the span of years. That structure is beautifully effective, because it feels like life actually happens.

I wouldn’t change a thing about The Anniversary—it’s a thriller that thrills, while staying grounded in a chilling reality.

Just do yourself a favor and be sure to set aside some quality reading time so you can truly appreciate this one, okay?

~GlamKitty

[Thanks to Minotaur Books and St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]